An Early Start
by WalkingInTheSea
Summary: 10 year old April o'neil was running in the rain when she fell down in the sewers. There, she meets four turtle tots and a giant rat. Young!April, Young!ninja turtles.


**Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT or its characters.**

* * *

It was heavily raining in New York. There wasn't a single sane person who wanted to go out in the outdoors in this dreadful weather. Except a 10-year-old red haired girl. April o'neil mentally kicked herself as she ran through the rain. 'I just _had_ to go and buy some frozen pizzas in this cold, wet day.'

But then again she had to. The fridge was empty and her Dad wasn't coming back until this weekend. Something about a conference about a new discovery in biology or whatever it was. And Mom is... April shook her head. 'Mom's not here.' She tighten her arms to secure the pizzas that was under her raincoat. It was uncomfortable, not to mention cold, but it kept the boxes dry. Her legs were tired and sore but nevertheless she boosted up her speed.

The rain was coming harder, if that was possible. The young girl kept her head down to keep the rain out of her eyes. For that she failed to notice a manhole missing its cover.

"Ahh!"

April screamed as she plummeted down the dark hole. Thankfully the fall wasn't long. Instead it was painful. A loud 'thud' echoed through the tunnels before April let out a short cry.

"Ow... my ankle..."

She tried to stand up but imediately dropped back down when a sharp pain went up her right leg.

"How am I supposed to get out of this one?" She muttered to herself.

Being a tomboy, April had experienced a lot of trouble compared to girls of her age, but never had she trapped herself in the sewers without anyone to help her.

'Great, just great.' She then noticed the rain pouring down on her through the opening of the hole. Rain water dripped down her hair and into her clothes. First thing first; get out of the rain. Since she can't use her leg, April half-crawled, half-limped to escape the 'circle of rain' as she called it, and reached the wall of the sewer, leaning against it.

"Achoo!"

An abrupt sneeze tumbled out of April's mouth before she could stop it. Dang it, she wasn't coming down with a cold, was she?

God, how she wished to be in her home, taking a warm shower, or her Dad wrapping her and herself with a fuzy blanket and watch cartoons with her. Suddenly, April's eyes prickled with tears.

"Daddy..." she called out. But Dad wasn't here. No one was here. No one knew she was here. The realization felt like a slap in the face. Contrast to the loud and heavy rain from outside, silent and slow tears began to rain from the 10-year-old's eyes. Fear spread to her cold, tired body.

'What if I can't get out? What if I have to stay in this dark, scary, cold sewers for the rest of my-'

"DAD! DADDY! ANYBODY?! HELP!" April screamed until her throat felt like a cat's favorite scratching post, and cried until her eyes swollowed the their twice size.

But only silence answered her.

The girl bowed her head miserably. What did she expect? No one comes here, especially now, when it's raining like there've been a leak in the sky. 'Guess I have to get out without any help.' She decided.

Readjusting the pizza that was still tucked in her raincoat, she tried to stand up, using the wall as support. Her ankle still throbbed but she managed to stay upright. Taking a deep breath, April took a step.

'Ack!' Letting out a small yelp, she hit the ground once more. Yep, her ankle was probably sprained or even worse, broken, considering her luck. Fustration filled her senses as she grabbed the wall yet again. It was keep trying or making this dreadful place her new home. She liked the first option better. She tried to hoist herself up but something made her body freeze in its tracks.

"You'll hurt yourself if you keep doing that."

April stopped breathing. Not that she could if she wanted to.

A voice. Someone. But who? A friend? A foe? Can they help her?

Questions rushed around her brain. The voice was small and silghtly high-pitched. A child voice. Probably around her age. But what's a kid doing here?

Hushed whispers followed the unknown voice and...a slap? There were more than one, she realized. But she couldn't tell where the voices were coming from. The tunnels made it like they were coming from everywhere.

"Who-" she tried to speak but her voice cracked. Trembling, April cleared her throat and spoke again. "Who's there?" She managed to bring out her voice but she couldn't hide the nervous edge to it.

Silence. And that was killing her. Did they left her?

"Can you come out?" At this point, April really didn't care who the stranger might be. Someone was here. This meant she isn't alone. But there was still no answer. She opened her mouth to call out again, when a different voice beat her to it.

"It would be better for you if we stay hidden." This voice was silghtly lower and held some kind of authority but it also held the same childish tone like the first one.

"Please? I want to see you." April pleaded. She needed resurance that she wasn't hearing things, that someone indeed was with her. "Besides," her voice raised as her confidence grew. The fear of being lonely outweighed the fear of the unknown. "it seems unfair that you can see me while I can't, don't you think?"

More hushed whispers. April couldn't make out what there were saying, but she noticed there were more than 2 people and probobly males. Four? Five? She wasn't sure. Maybe their parents? More kids? April snapped out of her musings when the second voice rang out in the tunnels.

"Okey, we'll show ourselves...but you have to swear you won't tell anyone about us!"

What? If this kid didn't sound so serious April might have find this very funny. But she was curious.

"Why?"

"You'll know when you see us. Now, do you swear?" He sounded impaient.

"I swear."

"Do you swear on your honor that you won't tell anybody about what you've seen today?" Honor? Who talked like that? This was getting anoying.

"I said I swear!"

The stranger in the shadows let out a large sigh. "Alright. You swore on your honor so you can never go back on your words." April had to bite her tongue to resist her outrage. Seriously, what was with this dude and honor?!

As though sensing her distress, the voice spoke. "Please understand, we're...not what you are expecting. So don't...freak out or anything."

April cocked her head. Why would she freak out? He's just a kid, right? A small side of her head screamed she shouldn't do this. They were strangers. They could do anything to her. But her curiousity shushed that part. Slightly grinning, she replied. "I'll do my best."

A small chuckle came back. This time she could detect where the source was coming from. It was coming from the other side of the manhole she fell into. If her eyes weren't mistaken, she could even make out four small sillouates behind the small amount of light coming from the manhole. They looked normal enough but she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was... off.

April waited in anticipation-and a little bit of fear- as one of the figures moved closer. Before completely stepping into the light, the figure seemed to prepare himself. Clenching both his fist, and drawing deep breathes, he finally came out of the shadows.

The first thing April saw in the poor lighting was green. Rich, clear, rain forest colors that didn't seem to belong in this big city. She could feel her eyes getting bigger as she slowly inspected the being in front of her from head to toe.

The green she saw was its thick leathery skin. Its height was simillar to hers, maybe a little taller. It was holding out what appeared to be hands in surrender. Three fingers. She looked down. Two toes. She moved her gaze to the mid-section. Armor like plastron and shell. Her eyes settled on its head. Hairless smooth scalp. A blue mask covered the part of his face like a blindfold. But she could see the eyes, those clear blue eyes from where to mask is cut. And they held the wariness the owner was feeling.

For what it seemed like a eternity, neither of them spoke. They just stared at each other as though they were waiting for the other to attack.

For April, she couldn't let her voice out. In fact, she couldn't even move her rest of her body. Her body seemed to shut down as soon as she had a conclusion; _it is not human._ Even her mind have shut down. There was no panic or fear or wishing it was a dream. Just blank.

The silence dragged on until finally, _finally_ the creature spoke. "Hi."

"..." She still haven't found her voice.

After waiting a few moments when he decided that she wasn't talking, he continued. "Nice to meet you. I'm Leonardo. What's your name?"

His voice silghtly wavered from nervousness but it was polite and had a hint of excitement.

His question made April's brain start functioning again. He have a name. Leonardo. He asked hers. She should answer. She opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out. Her mouth kept opening and closing like a fish but her breath was caught in her thoart. It made choked sounds as she struggled to breathe.

The creature- _Leonardo_ noticed this. "Hey, are you al-"

"Mikey, NO!"

Before she could blink, a green blur emerged from the shadows, raced towards her and stopped right in front of her. It was another one. His skin tone was lighter than Leonardo's. Shorter, but chubbier in cute way. Freckles covered his cheek and like Leonardo, he had a bright orange mask. And like the vibrant color of his mask, his eyes was shining brightly as he beamed at her.

"Hiya! The name is Michelangelo. This is soooooo awesome! You're like the first human we met-"

That was the final breakpoint for April. First she fell down a manhole and hurt her ankle . Next she encounter these strange creatures who one of them is babbling loudly in her ear and was jumping up and down like a kid in a toyshop. This was too much to take in. Her vision started to fade for the lack of oxyzen. Her body started to collapse. Before she drifted into unconsciousness she faintly heard three different voices yell "MIKEY!"

* * *

Before the human girl can hit the floor, Leonardo quickly grabbed the back of her head with his ninja skills, and steadied her in his arms.

The two other brothers who were hiding in the shadows soon joined them.

"Donnie, can you see if she's alright?" Leo asked his purple-mask-wearing brother, concerned.

"Relax, Leo. It's completly normal response to seeing Mikey's ugly face." Raphael said casually.

Michelangelo blew a raspberry in his older brother direction. "You're just jeaolus that I got to talk to a human, and _you_ didn't."

"Dude, she fainted." Raph pointed out.

Mikey wasn't fazed. "It still counts. Admit it. You're totally jealous."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Fed up with their pointless argument Donatello took his attention from the human and said with a annoyed voice. "Girls, girls, you're both pretty. So pipe it down so I can focus."

Both brothers just 'hmph'ed and looked the other way. Mentally thanking Donnie, Leo asked him about the girl's condition.

"Well, thankfully she didn't hit her head during the fall, though her right ankle is badly sprained. But nothing that a painkiller and a good night sleep can't handle." Donnie answered, curiously examining the girl's leg.

'Oh, that's good news.' Leo thought.

Awkward silence once more filled the air.

Mikey glanced around his brothers until he spoke up. "So...what do we do with her?"

"What do you mean 'what do we do with her'? There's nothing to do!" Raph looked at Mikey like he'd grown two heads. "We leave her here, some humans find her, she go home, we go home, and everybody's happy!"

"You sure, Raph? 'Cause I don't think the rain is going to stop anytime soon." Donnie said as he pointed to the small rainy sky through the manhole. "And if she doesn't get dry soon, she could get a cold. Or worse, pneumonia."

"And I don't think humans will immediately check the sewers." Added 'helpful' Leo.

"Come to think of it, this is all Donnie's fault!" Raph accused, as he pointed at his brother who had a guilty look on his face. "If you hadn't spoke to her, none of this would have happened. She wouldn't have noticed us, and we wouldn't have to expose ourselves."

Donnie didn't dare look up as he played with his fingers.

"She was hurt...and I wanted to stop her from causing more injuries." The turtle mumbled.

"What's done is done, Raph. And you know we have some responsibility of her getting hurt." Leo said, toching Donnie's shoulder silently comforting him.

Raphael finally lost his temper. "Then what do you want us to do, 'almighty leader'?! Bring this kid to our Lair and nurse her back to health and send her back to the wild?!"

 _A short time after..._

"Should have kept my mouth shut..." Raph growled.

They were currently heading back to the Lair. Leonardo was leading the literally small group, Michelangelo was close behind, and Donatello was tagging along way in the back. Raphel was somewhere between...with the human on his back!

Raph grumbled as he adjusted his hold of the girl. She wasn't heavy, but not entirely light either. And the shell on his back wasn't helping much too. The retangular box that was in her clothes was in the hands of Leo. Why would someone hide a box in their clothes? Humans are so strange. And speaking of strange...

Raph quickened his pace to catch up with his supposedly eldest brother.

"Tell me, why am _I_ the one carrying her?!" Raph seethed through his teeth so as not to wake the girl.

Leo gave him an innocent look. "Since you suggested the idea, I figured you would want to carry her."

The vein on the head of the hot-tempered turtle twitched. "Why the shell would I want to carry her?! And I was being sarcastic, genius!"

"Maybe carrying a little girl is too much for ol'Raphie." Suggested Michelangelo.

"Oohhhhh, the biggest challenge of the turtle who always calls himself 'the strongest and the toughest ninja': a little girl !" Donatello snickered.

Soon all the turtles-except one, whose face was starting to match his mask's color- roared with laughter, picturing their brother struggling to hold up a small child.

"Fine! I'll carry her! Ya happy?!"

"Alright, alright. We're sorry we laughed at you, Raph." Leo said in his 'big brother voice'. Raph rolled his eyes. "Now let's hurry up, we're almost there."

Soon enough, after a few minutes, they arrived at the Lair. The best word to describe the Lair was...humble. Since they weren't able to get stuff like humans, all the things they found, from the furnitures to food, were either used things that were thrown away or washed away by the rain and ended up in the sewers. It was small, dark, smelly, but it was the only place where the four brothers can truely be themselves. It was home.

The young ninjas quitely entered the Lair, checking every shadows and corners. Not a sound was made as they crept into the center of the room where there was a old, worn-out couch.

Raph carefully lowered the girl to the couch and layed her head on the one of the cushions that Mikey brought.

"Ok, Leo. I may have carried the girl, but _you_ have to explain it to Sensei." Raph said in a smug voice.

"And what would that be, Raphael?"

All four turtles jumped.

They spun around to see a giant rat in a rich dark purple kimono with a staff in his hands. Their father, mentor, savior, and Sensei, Master Splinter.

"No matter how many times I see that, it's so awesome and a little scary when he does it." Mikey whispered to Donnie who could only give him a shakey nod. They were so busted!

Splinter took his time as he walked to the couch. His face held no anger as he slowly inspected the scene before him. In fact, his face held no emotions at all. And that worried the four children.

Finally, Splinter stood tall before them. Four audible gulps interrupted the silent room.

"My sons, is there something you wish to tell me?"

The brothers looked at each others nervously, silently debating who should be the scapegoat. Eventually all eyes turned to Leonardo who panicked noticably. Raph helped his brother by pushing him in front of their father.

"Leonardo?"

The eldest turtle looked at his father's piercing yet gentle eyes before taking a deep breath.

"Ummmm... the thing is, Sensei, we disobeyed your rules about not going out without your permission. We were just exploring the sewers. It was raining and we wanted to pick up if something useful wash up. And we came across a manhole. We knew you told us that up above is dangerous, but we wanted to see what it looks like. So Raph and Donnie removed the lid. I swear, we checked if the coast was clear, so no humans saw us!" Leo hurriedly added as he saw Master Splinter's horrified expression.

"Like I said, it was raining hard, so no humans were around the streets except for a few cars. Anyway, we were looking around when this girl," he pointed at the still unconcious human, "was running toward us. We just figured she would run past us, so we waited nearby. Unfortunately she fell down and hurt her ankle. Donnie kind of blew our cover when he tried to stop her from hurting herself. And she demanded us to show ourselves. I volunteered but Mikey surprised her and she fainted. We decieded to bring her back here, and now... here we are." Leo finished.

"I see..." Master Splinter calmly stroked his beard as he processed what his son had said. His younger sons were also uncharacteristically quiet during Leo's explaination.

"We're sorry we disobeyed your orders, Sensei. And I know we shouldn't bring a stranger to our home or let alone meet one, but she got hurt because of us. And there was nobody else but us to help her. We wanted to make up for our mistake. She is our responsibility." Leo said firmly.

Master Splinter closed his eyes for a bit and reopened to see four determined faces. He spoke in a stern voice,

"I am not happy that you ignored my warnings and wondered off to the upper side. You could have exposed yourselves to someone who did not have good intentions. It could have brought danger to our whole family."

All four bowed their heads with shame. Splinter couln't help but chuckle at their expressions.

"However, I am proud of you."

The turtle tots perked up from the unexpected praise.

"If it were anybody else, they could have ignored the girl and went their ways. Although I am upset you have easily shown yourselves, you realised the consequences of your mistake and tried to amend it despite your safety. You've saved a life. For that, I am proud that I have taught my sons well."

Leonardo's face almost glowed in pride at his father's words. Raphael shrugged his shoulders as if it didn't matter, but a faint blush and a twitching smile was visible. Donatello, on the contary, blushed a nice shade of red while gigling hysterically. Michelangelo nearly bounced in happiness.

"But still, you are grounded. And no TV for a week."

Master Splinter's ever-changing mood swings brought the brothers from their high.

"AWWWWWWW."

* * *

"When do you think she'll wake up?"

"For the last time Mikey, I don't know!"

After the confrontation with Splinter and receiving their punishment, the rat ninja master went to the dojo while the four mutant turtles gathered around the couch where the girl was lying. Michelangelo and Donatello was at where the girl's head lay, while Raphael and Leonardo was at her feet. Each of them appeasing their thirst of curiosity for humans by drinking in the human girl's features. And enduring Mikey's question every 5 minutes.

Mikey pouted at Donnie's answer. "She's been like this forever! It's cool to have a human around but what's the point if she's unconsicous." He whined, carefully tracing the girl's hair with one of his fingers. He really wanted a new friend...

"She'll come around when she's ready, Mikey. Don't you worry." Leo tried to assurre his younger brother.

'Hmph, when is that?' Mikey scoffed. He turned his head towards his purple-masked brother. Donatello was engrossed in observing the girl's hand, comparing with his. Out of the four brothers, Donnie was the turtle who was the most intrigued by the presense of the human.

Mikey silently watched as Donnie's attention went up to her face. His eyes held the emotion that was like the one who have seen the sun the first time. Wonder. Fascination.

'When she's ready, huh...' Mikey thought. Then a lightbulb clicked inside his head.

"Hey, D! Kiss her!"

The sudden outbrust from Mikey nearly made Donnie lose his balence and fall off the couch, while the remaining turtles froze in shock.

"What the-! Why would you-! How-!" Donnie stuttered, his whole face turing redder by the second. He finally let out a loud screechy 'WHAT?!'.

"Wow, Donnie's unable to let out a sentance. That's the first." Snapping out of his shock, Raph said to Leo who was smiling amusingly.

Totally unware of Donnie's embarassment and the humorous look his older brothers were giving him, Mikey 'explained' cheerfully. "It's like that fairytale, Snow White or the Sleeping Beauty. A girl is unable to wake up from her sleep and a guy comes by and kisses her. And she wakes up! It's perfect!"

Donatello didn't know whether he should smack his own forehead or Mikey's. From his back he could hear his brothers muffling their laughter which they weren't doing a very good job. He looked at Mikey's wide, sparkly eyes. Clearly, he thought that this was actually a great idea.

'I can't decide if this is innocent and pure, or stupid and naive' Donnie thought. He sighed and turned back to Mikey who was still waiting for an answer.

"Mikey, I can't kiss her."

The large grin immediately fell from the youngest turtle's face and a face of a puppy which've been kicked replaced it. "Why not?"

"Yes, Donnie. Why not?" Leo chimed. He and Raphael were having too much fun watching Donnie's frustration. But to be fair, the third oldest turtle always remained cool and calm. It was like this rare occasion where they can see awkward, bumbling Donnie. And it is hilarious.

"Mikey," Donnie's tone resembled an adult explaning to a small child. Which wasn't far off. "the girls in your story are sleeping because they are in a _spell_. And they are _princesses_. And she," he gestured at the girl who was still unaware of the situation. "is _not_."

Mikey protested. "But she is pretty enough to be one! So the kiss gotta work!" Then a horrifying thought came to his head. "Are you refusing because she isn't pretty enough?!"

Taken surprise by the absurd conclussion , Donnie stammered without thinking. "No, no! She is the prettiest girl I've ever-"

Realizing his mistake, he quickly slammed his hands to his mouth but the it was too late.

Leo and Raph didn't even tried to hide it. Both erupted in a fit of laughter that caused them to fall off the couch. They didn't even noticed and continued to laugh. Leo was clutching his stomach with tears coming out of his eyes. Raph was banging the floor with both fists, crying out "Donnie likes a girl! Donnie likes a girl!" between laughter.

Donatello felt his face steaming with embarassment. "MIKEY!"

Poor innocent(?) Mikey screamed in terror while chased around the Lair by a fuming Donnie. This made the eldest brothers laugh harder.

After laughing for what seemed like hours, Leonardo was the first one to recover. Chuckling slightly as he saw Donnie wrestling Mikey to the ground, he turned to the couch when something caught his eyes.

"Uh... guys?"

"I give! I give! Donnie! Please have mercy!" Mikey struggled to grasp Donnie's arm that was choking him.

"HAHA! Man, I'm never letting _that one_ slide for a very long time!" Raph was mentally conjuring various ways to torture Donnie with this new information.

"GUYS!" Leo shouted, more urgent now.

The brothers finally looked up.

"She's waking up."

* * *

 **A/N: Hi again. I'm glad that I'm finally posting this. This was originally my first story but it got way longer than I thought it would. I was aiming for one shot but writing this with a phone isn't easy so I'm going to make it two. I've already thought of the story so the only problem is the time to write it. And I hope it's soon.**

 **Anyway, I've always loved the idea of April meeting the turtles when they were both young so I gave it a try. The universe in this story is whatever you prefer. Personally I thought of 2k12 version. But like I said , whatever you prefer. I hope the characters aren't OOC cause god I tried. If you think they are, please let me know. The last part was a bit rushed and I think I'll edit it later when I am finished.**

 **Ok, I think that's it. I'll update as soon as I can (hopefully). English isn't my mother tongue, so if there is something that's not quite right, please let me know. Thank you for reading, and if you have time please leave a review so I can know what you guys think.^^**

 **Good night, everybody~**


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